The claims of assault and sexual assault (“titty-twisting Tuesdays” and and “slap-ass Fridays”) , are very disturbing, as are the claims of disproportionate discipline.

The lawsuit, which names as defendants the members of the Eureka City Schools District Board of Education and the district’s superintendent, among other school officials, charges that blatant racial harassment occurs regularly as white students frequently use racial slurs to refer to Black students and commit violence against Native American and Black students without ever being disciplined by school staff.

Native American and Black students are also disciplined differently and much more harshly than white students. According to school district data from the 2011-2012 school year, Black students were suspended from some Eureka schools at a rate as much as five times higher than their enrollment rate while Native American students were suspended from some schools at a rate three times higher than their enrollment rate. Comparatively, white students are suspended at or about their rate of enrollment in district schools. Additionally, Native American students are pushed out of mainstream schools and into county-run community schools designed for high-risk youth and which do not appropriately prepare students planning to attend college. The Native American population at the Eureka Community School was three times higher than their overall district enrollment rate in 2011-2012, district data shows.

District curriculum also ignores or actively affronts the racial and cultural history of Native American and Black students by utilizing materials that use the word “savage,” “negro,” and “nigger” without examining the offensiveness or historical context of those terms.

I would however, like to know more about the last paragraph there – some specific context. Are we talking about Mark Twain? I do think that some adults fail to give children and teenagers credit for being able to sort the historical issues out. I assume that more information will be forthcoming after the districts try to get the suits dismissed and the depositions begin.

I had heard last spring that this lawsuit was underway, and as a parent of nonwhite children attending the city schools I am very concerned and I will be watching this story closely. And I will discuss these issues with them tonight.

If any of the allegations are true — and I’d be surprised if none of them were — then it’s better to get them out in the light of day. It’s sad that in this day and age, people still need to resort to the legal system to sort these things out, but apparently sometimes we still do.

Meanwhile, in Florida a school named after one of the founders of the KKK will finally change its name:

“Despite the fact that more than 60 percent of the school’s 1,300 current students are black, the name change did not come without resistance. The school board on Monday also released the results of a survey it conducted in December among various stakeholder groups. Among the 111 faculty respondents, only 48 percent supported a name change. Among the 93 community member respondents, only 25 percent supported a name change. And among 339 alumni respondents, only 6 percent supported a name change…not everyone who responded to the Duval County School Board opposed a name for the school. More than 1,000 current students filled out the survey. Sixty-four percent supported the change.”

Obviously this suit is a community dividing work of the same liberals who are ‘out to get’ Dan Johnson. Likely, they are ‘outsiders’, newly arrived from ‘big cities’. They don’t understand or care about beloved local traditions that have bound together many generations here, enabling them to survive and thrive.

Late night, can’t sleep. I’m wandering the blogesphere in my bathrobe and slippers, too bad about the lawsuit. No one wants to admit to racism. To “white-privilege” racism is dead. Everything is fair now. The aristocracy got theirs through hard work and self discipline. Life is so much easier now. The Soylent Green tastes so much better than it used to.

Personally I like to keep in mind that our youth are merely a reflection of the adult society surrounding them. If you want to create a policy of treating other people with equality and humanely then one of the first places to start is working on the parents and the community. It is hard intervention in a community when a policy has to be made for the students which contradicts what is taking place in their own homes and backyards.

I was discussing this with a 17 year old white male EHS student last night. His opinion was that racism and sexual harassment not only occur daily but that many teachers take part, trying to be cool at worst with the best wearing blinders so as not to rock the boat. The only alternative to lawsuits like this is an enforced zero tolerance policy.

Loleta high schoolers go to Ferndale High. Is that where the faction of racist football fans is from?

I believe the last paragraph covers a lot of it. Much of this probably has to do with people innocently using certain words and someone else making a big deal out of it. I was told by someone not long ago that even using the word negro is racist.

Decades ago, when I worked at juvenile hall, I had very good relationships with the indian kids (some will probably say “indian kid” is racist). I doubt anyone familiar with the situation at the time would argue that.

I’d have one kid come to me an offer to show me “an old injun trick” and could talk to them the same way. I feel safe in saying neither them or I saw any problem.

One time a guy from one of the tribes came to the hall. He was a guy from some tribal support agency who acted as a counselor for native americans in the hall. He came to the office and asked to see “Jason”.

That surprised me as Jason’s skin was so white I had no idea he was indian. Without thinking I said, “Oh, I didn’t know Jason was an injun”. Heck, that’s the way I talked to the other kids, amongst them, anyway. I thought nothing of it.

A day or two later the superintendent calls me into his office. The local union rep, Cate, was also asked to attend. The supe is pretty cool but tells me that the indian counselor guy filed a complaint, saying he heard me say racist things. Specifically, that I called Jason an “injun”.

I was fit to be tied and told the supe that and that, if anybody got along well and had rapport with the indian kids in the hall, it was me. The supe didn’t argue that but hinted that he’d really like me to send the asshole counselor guy an apology. I agreed to and Cate typed one up for me to sign.

I told some of the other indian kids about that incident and they weren’t happy about it either.

Fred doesn’t need to read the complaint, because he once had an experience ten years ago, so he knows what most of this is probably about.

Of course, *you* could always read the complaint, as the North Coast Journal has posted links to the Eureka and Loleta court filings. I don’t know how much of this is accurate, but that’s for a court to decide, unless of course Fred is available.

From the Loleta complaint.
In Loleta, Native American children are disciplined more often and more severely than non-Native American students.20 Ms. Hadden regularly punishes Native American students excessively, often with suspensions or expulsions, for minor behavioral infractions or for acts that they did not commit.

In September 2013, Ms. Hadden expelled Christopher T.21, a Native American student, forkicking a ball on the school roof during an after-school program. Christopher T. has alsoreceived approximately 20 disciplinary referrals or suspensions, many for minor misbehaviors oracts that he did not commit, such as allegedly damaging school property when he hung on therim of the basketball hoop, talking back to Loleta staff, shooting rubber bands, and throwing apencil. Christopher T. has never seen White students receive similar discipline.

In September 2013, Ms. Hadden expelled William T., a Native American student, for allegedlypunching a student, who is White, in the face. The complaining student later admitted toWilliam T. and another student, Matthew T., that she invented the incident and apologized.
William T. reported the new facts to his mother after school. When she called the school thenext day to ask whether William T. could return to school, Loleta staff informed her that WilliamT. was still expelled.

During the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years prior to his expulsion, William T. was alsosuspended at least three times for minor misbehavior, such as talking in class. No other studentswere similarly disciplined, even though many students in the class were also talking.

Additionally, during those years, William T. was sent out of the classroom at least ten times fortalking or getting out of his seat to sharpen his pencils. Again, other students were not similarlydisciplined.

In fall 2013, Ms. Hadden suspended Josh T., a seven-year-old Native American student, fordisrupting the classroom, including by breaking crayons. Josh T.’s older brother, Christopher T.,estimates that Josh T. has been suspended approximately eleven times, often after he gets angry
because other students are picking on him.

I just read the Eureka complaint, and unless those four kids and their parents are pathological liars and raving lunatics, I think we have a problem. I see some room for innocent misunderstanding on some of the allegations, but not all of them.

Eric, while its unlawful to publicly act out racial prejudice, parents have the undisputed right to rise their children to hold racist beliefs. Locally the most esteemed opinion is that the legality of an act is much less important then if one believes it is “right”. The creation of the public school system was predicated on local control. Parents expect and demand that schools reflect local community values. This situation in Eureka, Loleta, Ferndale isn’t new, its just business as usual. I doubt whether the lawsuit can have any lasting effect on how local schools are run. The prevailing attitudes in the community are continually being reinforced and re-entrenched by generations of parents who treasure this place for economical monocultural living.

I can also see that those students might have been regular disciplinary problems that had to be dealt with time and time again. By witnesses own admission the kids in question were disciplined multiple times. Those are probably just instances where it was serious enough to be recorded. There were likely a number of other times they had to be reproached for their behavior.

Notice, too, that it’s not EVERY indian kid. Only a relative handful.

As far as “….Fred doesn’t need to read the complaint, because he once had an experience ten years ago,“, it’s not just from back then. We read about stuff like this all the time. People get all worked up over something someone says, either innocently or as a matter of opinion.

I just don’t see the racist thing. The vast majority of racist experiences I’ve seen in my life were from non- whites. I can only think of two non- whites I consider racist since I moved up here 40 years ago. To suggest that there’s some systemic racist system up here- at least by white school staff- is hard for me to swallow.

This comment is a take on Not A Native’s 10:43 comment. When I was in high school this kind of sexual and racial perversion as defined in this lawsuit was non-existent – simply not tolerated. Not to say there wasn’t plenty of prejudice demonstrated by the original land, property and business owners in Southern Humboldt toward all the people moving into the area after the war. First, most of the students and teachers had too much self-respect as responsible individuals to crawl down into that sewer. If someone did and made a spectacle of themselves, one or more of the boys made sure it didn’t happen again. And if the boys didn’t rise to the occasion, some of the girls got together and took care of the problem. More importantly, the teachers and school administration were proactive making sure such situations never developed in the first place. Just goes to show you what can happen in 50 to 60 years when a community decides criminal money is more important than character and personal integrity.

Fred – maybe it’s the nature of my profession, but I’ve encountered many more than two who are indisputably racist, including a couple who have admitted it plainly. I’ve represented open racists, but attorney-client privilege prevents me from discussing any details. And yes, it probably comes out more easily and is more sharply directed at kids who have social issues. I’m sure there are students who are black or Native who get along with the same people who are victimizing these kids, and the kids would probably say, “I don’t think of him/her as black.” You notice the differences more if they are different in other ways.

None of us are racist when it’s easy. But if the individual is at all challenging to get along with, it comes out with a vengeance. And District and its employees are charged with the duty to protect those kids, whether they “deserve” the treatment in some minds or not. If you can’t handle that responsibility, then there are other vocations to take up.

One allegation in the complaint I’m fairly certain is true because it runs with the pattern everywhere. For kids with special education needs, they are entitled services which the districts can’t afford, and so special education teachers are told not to offer them even when it could really help the student. It’s a structural problem – with unfunded state mandates, because the districts really can’t afford to take it all on their own. So I find the allegation about the district implying that the parents have to pay for their own special needs assessment before an accommodation plan can be implemented entirely plausible.

If parents really understood what their rights are, they would demand much more. And the districts would go into the red. It all should be covered by state and federal funding, but good luck with that!

“Whites believe that they have replaced blacks as the primary victims of racial discrimination in contemporary America, according to a new study from researchers at Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School.”

Eric wrote,. But if the individual is at all challenging to get along with, it comes out with a vengeance.

I might agree in part, but I also see it from the other side: You have a problem kid that thinks he’s being picked on because of race, and the situation escalates because of that. And when the kid keeps screaming about being treated bad because of race, others react to him in what might seem to be a racist way.

In juvenile hall it could become a bit testy when we had a larger population of indians. Get more than maybe 5 and they can start stirring things up amongst themselves with the indian vs. white guy thing. We’d react, perhaps a bit in kind, but within procedure and the rules.

I might add that I can’t recall any big individual behavior problems with the indian kids. Sure, they’d act out, especially when they had moral support of their peers. Generally they weren’t that bad as individuals.

The biggest behavior problems were nearly always white kids that were in there for minor things like petty theft or something minor. Some of them could be a real headache.

. For kids with special education needs, they are entitled services which the districts can’t afford, and so special education teachers are told not to offer them even when it could really help the student.

Are they being denied those services while white kids are being allowed them?

I don’t know what it’s like now, or if it applies to the schools as it did with juvenile hall, but back then there were certain things we couldn’t allow indian kids to get involved with lest the whatever that native american agency was at the time would get pissed off.

That agency- whatever it was called- handled a lot, if not most, of the mental health issues with the indian kids.

I recall once there was some group discussion being held in the dayroom with a bunch of kids. Some outside therapist type was doing it. Our senior noticed one of the indian kids was mistakenly allowed to participate. Her and I had to go in there and take him to his room, explaining that he couldn’t be in with that group or that indian agency would raise hell (not sure exactly what kind of trouble we’d get into for that).

He was pissed, and felt picked on, but ended up being pretty cool about it. I was a little miffed with my senior for intervening. The group was almost over and we could avoided a possible scene by letting him stay in the group and just make sure he didn’t go to the next one.

Wonder if anything like that goes on with the schools? Indian agencies claiming jurisdiction over certain things?

I disagree with your fatalism here NAN “The prevailing attitudes in the community are continually being reinforced and re-entrenched by generations of parents who treasure this place for economical monocultural living.” But I’m otherwise sympathetic to what you wrote.

I’m not as sympathetic with your takes, of course, JB and FM, but I do appreciate the honesty. I think this is what Eric Holder meant when he said we had to have courage when discussing race.

I also think one of the main disconnects can be found in this sentence of JB’s “Not to say there wasn’t plenty of prejudice demonstrated by the original land, property and business owners in Southern Humboldt toward all the people moving into the area after the war.”

I think a great deal of this comes down to the seemingly simple idea of “original owners”. I think that simple phrase get’s to part of what you are saying NAN.

Moving our civilization from a white dominated patriarchy to a mixed non-patriarchy may actually be the heart of the culture (strike war) conflict nationwide and especially in HumCo. Think about it. Think about the gender issues in both the “incident” and the crap that is being brought up in the coming mayor race and the always just below the surface race and ethnicity threads/ news items. It’s pretty crazy how all these threads connect and I think it goes to something I heard EK speculate about on one of his shows.

So much of the politics here are old guard v new guard or however one might characterize it. And I think, FM and JB your honest takes to me represent a defendable position that we knew what was right before the changes we see our society making – and every effort should be made to return to the culture and standards of that by-gone era. (defendable, but not one I agree with)

But to this other anonymous’ rorschach test point. The most important issue in this this thread is not about us parents (or childless adults) and our politics. It’s about making sure every student in our schools is afforded an equal opportunity to succeed and importantly that includes a school environment as free as possible from hostile or demeaning attitudes on race, gender, or ethnicity.

Who ever unleashed the meth onto the reservations may have been backed by GREED motives as a way to take the land away from the Native American Indians. Afghanistan is the pilot program. People need to wake up and fast!

“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field…. They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!… Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

The funny/sad part is that the guy probably really believes this. Just as some locals probably really believe that there is little or no discrimination against minorities in Humboldt.

That’s interesting anecdotal evidence Fred. How about some darn stats? White median family wealth is 20 times that of an African American family. Granted that’s nationwide, but I think HUmCo’s continued institutionalized white privilege is no better and probably worse than that nation wide. We still have structural problems in our society that we need to address instead of burying our heads in the sand.

I’ve lived in Humboldt County most of my life, Fred and, speaking from experience, I’d have to say you’ve lived a rather sequestered life. There was a time when no blacks lived in Humboldt County, except perhaps one longstanding family that was accepted and every one was proud of it. Then an older black man moved to Fortuna, and setup a shoe repair shop. It didn’t take the Fortuna police long to run him out of town. He ended up in Southern Humboldt. It didn’t take them long to burn him out. And that is just one example. Problem is, you don’t have to be of a “minority” or person of color or offending religious beliefs to be discriminated in this county.

Thank you for witnessing (2nd meaning) that story JB. No sarcasm. That is an important narrative to remember for our community. It’s one about the courage of an individual and family and the fear of a community.

It only takes one racist with authority to quietly destroy a young person’s life. and, it only takes on young person playing the “race-card” in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for their actions to destroy the reputation of a good school.
I will reserve judgment until all the facts are in. Which isn’t nearly as much fun as speculation.
I will say that “Zero-Tolerance” is a crime against communities, and the ‘school-to-prison- pipeline’ is as real as it gets.

“it only takes on young person playing the “race-card” in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for their actions to destroy the reputation of a good school.”

I disagree with this MD. It takes context too. I don’t think the ACLU would bring this suit if this was the case. I also think the context of our community means someone could technically be guilty of this, but unfortunately our communities’ context on discrimination by ethnicity, race, and gender gives even the most irresponsible whistle-blower some credence.

But I’ll check out the BM link. An hour spend listening to Bill Moyers is always worth it.

@Susie: Oh I am not sure that is true at all. I offer as evidence, that I personally know of a staunch Republican conservative, from a very conservative family, in high ranks at SoHum. But this person is smart enough to keep it out of people’s faces given the over-reactive community. I am guessing there are more like that. After all SoHum has an amazing amount of Republican voters considering the given stereotype of Hippie-land.